This invention relates generally to building structures, and particularly to devices for fastening panels or sheets of material to walls. More particularly, this invention relates to a fastener that can be anchored to a wall and operated to pierce an insulation panel or the like and hold the panel flat against the wall.
Many modern homes are built atop crawl spaces. In order to make the structure more thermally efficient, insulation panels are generally installed on a wall bordering the crawl space. Typically, a two or four foot by eight foot flat sheet of one-half to three inch thick insulation material is cut as necessary to provide each insulation panel. In most cases, the crawl space is insulated by attaching several insulation panels to an inner surface of the foundation to lie in the crawl space. However, in some applications, it is desirable to attach one or more insulation panels to an exterior surface of the foundation or other part of a building.
It is a conventional practice to glue an insulation panel to the inner surface of a concrete block foundation so that the panel is held in place on the foundation to insulate the crawl space. Often, the top edge of the insulation panel is nailed to the wooden top plate mounted on the top course of concrete block used to provide the foundation. As a result of gluing and nailing, the insulation panel installation process tends to be very time consuming, and therefore expensive. Furthermore, the glue-wall bond is susceptible to deterioration due to exposure to moisture, which deterioration can cause the insulation to separate from the wall. If the crawl space should become flooded, the glue used to affix the panel to the wall may fail causing the insulation panel to separate from the wall. When that happens, the insulation contractor must be called back to the building site and asked to replace or repair the insulation, at additional cost.
An improved fastener is needed that will allow for faster, more reliable installation of insulation panels or the like and that is not susceptible to failure upon exposure of the fastener to moisture. Such a fastener would be a substantial improvement over conventional methods.
Mechanical insulation fastening systems are known. See, for example, German Patent Application No. 23 03 897 to Schuhmann, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,038 to Catani. Many known mechanical fasteners are cumbersome to use and difficult to anchor to a wall. A fastener that could be adapted in the field to anchor to any block foundation quickly and easily would be an improvement over conventional mechanical fasteners which use bolts or wire reinforcements to anchor the fastener in place.
According to the present invention, an insulation fastener is provided for attaching insulation to a block in a wall, where the block has a top and an inner core. The fastener includes means for piercing the insulation and means for anchoring the fastener to the block, with the anchoring means being attached to the piercing means. The anchoring means includes a first segment positioned against the block and inside the inner core and a second segment positioned adjacent to the top of the block. The second segment is disposed between the first segment and the piercing means.
In preferred embodiments, the anchoring means has a third segment extending orthogonally from the second segment, and the first, second, and third segments cooperate to define a generally U-shaped channel. The U-shaped channel can be inverted.
The piercing means includes a flange that extends orthogonally from the third segment. It is tapered to converge from a maximum width at one end adjacent to the third segment to a minimum width at another end of the flange.
A method of using an insulation fastener according to the present invention uses a construction block wherein the block has a wall and an inner core. The wall has an inner face adjacent to the inner core, an outer face, and a top face. The fastener has first, second, and third segments and a piercing flange.
To practice the method, the fastener is positioned adjacent to the block so that the second segment is adjacent to the top face and the third segment is adjacent to the front face. The first segment is bent into the inner core so that the first segment is positioned adjacent to the inner face of the block. Insulation is pushed against the fastener so that the piercing flange penetrates the insulation. After the piercing flange has penetrated the insulation, a washer is slid over the piercing flange and positioned so as to abut the outer facing surface of the insulation panel. An end portion of the piercing flange is bent to retain the washer in position and provide a mechanical lock to hold the insulation panel in position against the wall.
By providing a small, compact fastener that is anchored to a wall and which permanently couples the insulation panels to the wall, the present invention provides a faster and more economical means to attach insulation panels to a wall. By using a mechanical attachment rather than glue, which deteriorates, the present invention holds the insulation tightly to the block wall and thereby improves heat efficiency. Since there is no need to apply glue to the surface of the insulation and no need to nail the insulation to the top plate, installation is faster, and therefore cheaper. Furthermore, by providing an attachment means that does not deteriorate and subsequently release the insulation, the invention eliminates contractor call-backs to replace insulation, thereby decreasing the overall cost of installing the insulation.
By providing a fastener that is installed by manually bending a first leg into position, the present invention provides for faster and easier installation while obviating the need for additional tools and materials. Furthermore, manual bending of the first leg ensures that the fastener of the present invention is easily adaptable to a wide range of block sizes without the need of bolts or wire reinforcements to anchor the fastener in place.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.